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Rabat – Many are debunking France’s claims of being a champion of the values of fraternity, individual freedom, and tolerance, as suggested in its motto “Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite.”
In the aftermath of the protests that have shaken France over the past week, the French government’s blaming of social networks for the riots and unrest has raised eyebrows and uncomfortable questions regarding what many see as French authorities’ alarming infringement on freedom of expression.
It’s been eight days since the brutal killing of a 17-year-old boy by a police officer in France. The killing of Nael triggered anger, frustration, and protests across France, which has been linked to a disturbing increase in human rights violations – including racism, discrimination, and Islamophobia.
In April this year, a report by the French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) put the spotlight on the increase in Islamophobia occurred in April this year, when the French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) put a spotlight on the struggles that migrant job seekers from North Africa face in France.
According to the report, job seekers’ chances of being vetted after a job interview differs on the basis of their gender and ethnic origins.
For instance, job applicants from North Africa receive 32% fewer callbacks from recruiters than those who have no “migrant ancestry,” according to the report’s data collected between 2019-2020.
While the aforementioned data comes as evidence of discrimination, Nael’s tragedy comes as a live testimonial to the red flags that the European country has been ignoring despite far-right and extremist hostile acts towards migrants, especially Arabs, and Muslims.
Crystal M. Fleming, a professor of sociology and African studies at Stony Brook University, voiced her concerns about France’s immigration policy through an op-ed, in which she argued that French police killed Nael because “French racism enabled it.”
‘Hypocrisy at its best’
“President Macron knows the killing isn’t ‘inexplicable,’ but until France acknowledges institutional racism, nothing will change,” she said.
Amid the mounting frustration and shock a week after Nahel’s tragic murder by a police officer, Emmanuel Macron sparked another wave of uproar with provocative remarks in which he blamed social platforms for the ongoing protests and riots.
Social platforms should remove “sensitive content,” the French president said last week, claiming that social media are playing a “major role in the events of recent days.”
“We’ve seen them – Snapchat, TikTok and several others – serve as places where violent gatherings have been organized, but there’s also a form of mimicry of the violence, which for some young people leads them to lose touch with reality,” he said.
Macron’s remarks sparked frustration from many who took to social media to criticize European approaches to tackling protests and freedom of expression.
“When the protests started in Arab countries more than a decade ago, France called it the Arab Spring. Now when the people of France want to bring a change the French authorities are curbing their freedom of expression. This is hypocrisy at its best,” one Twitter user wrote.
Another commenter said France ‘s approach to “cut off the internet” comes due to its failure to control the situation.
“We recommend that you respect freedom of expression and the right to demonstrate,” the Twitter user added.
Many condemned the internet shutdown in France, describing it as a “direct attack on freedom of expression.”
Other internet users have used sarcasm to respond to Macron’s remarks, stressing that France would have called on any country’s authorities to “exercise restraint and respect freedom of expression” and to “respond to protesters demands” without using excessive force had the demonstrations taken place in any other country.
Thousands of Twitter users have been retweeting similar posts, stressing France’s breach of freedom of expression against its motto that pushes for equality, liberty, and brotherhood.
Many NGOs and organizations have been condemning France’s human rights situation following discrimination against Muslims and police attacks on migrants.
Police’s use of violence
In May, several countries including the US, China, and Russia criticized the police violence amid demonstrations at the UN, calling on France to double its efforts towards combating violence and discrimination.
“We recommend that France expands efforts to counter crimes and threats of violence motivated by religious hatred such as antisemitism and anti-Muslim hate, including cases of harassment, vandalism, and assault,” said U.S. Representative Kelly Billingsley.
France has been home to many protests for the past five months, with millions expressing anger about President Macron’s unpopular pension reforms.
Also throughout these anti-pension protests, videos and media reports highlighted violent clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement agents, as well as the French police’s use of excessive force to contain the protests.
Scenes of violence included the use of tear gas, dogs, water cannons, as well as bright lights to prevent journalists from documenting the event, the Guardian once reported.
